Troubled waters for Dell, though

Worldwide PC shipments are up a healthy nine per cent compared to the same period last year, according to preliminary 2007 first quarter figures from technology analyst Gartner Inc.

Dell remained in the number one position, but its performance was well below the industry standard, with shipments down by 7.8 per cent. Gartner attributed this to the firm's weak performance in the home market.

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It said Hewlett Packard, the world's second biggest computer manufacturer, continued to perform well and that the firm "far outpaced the industry average". HP's shipments were up 28.7 per cent, it said.

Gartner analyst Mikako Kitagawa said: "HP was helped by the Vista operating system consumer launch in the mature regions, and it is benefiting from a strong position in the channel. The first quarter of 2007 was a transitional quarter for Dell as the company began a major restructuring project."

The preliminary figures show that a total of 62.7 million units were shifted in the first quarter of this year, with variations depending on geographical region.

The US, EMEA, European, and Latin markets were all said to have performed better than Gartner had predicted.

In the US, the surge in the home PC market was believed to be the main factor in driving up shipment growth by some 2.9 per cent.

But Asia/Pacific and Japan shipments were lower than expected. Despite this, the Asia region appeared to have taken the number two spot in the PC shipments market, ahead of the US.

Analysts also said that Microsoft's Vista, which launched in January this year, had had a limited impact on the "overall worldwide shipment demand on a quarterly basis".